Paging Mr Hoffa...Dig up those dead projects and post a pic!

wheelsmithy wrote: Once again NOHOME twists my arm...BEHOLD my shame! 1960 Bugeye Sprite. Rusty in the extreme. I built a tube frame for the poor bastidge. I studied suspension design for over a year before I felt confident enough to make that suspension. Haven't touched it in almost 6 Years! I will get back to it. The question is, how far backwards will I have to go now that my knowledge and skills have progressed.

You just naild one of the big reasons why I think projects die.

When we start, we have dreams and few skills. As we progress we acquire reality and knowledge.

At some point we stop and realize that our skills and knowledge no longer agree with our original dreams. In other words, we now realize that there is a better way to do the job. Or that technology has obsoleted our cutting edge fussion based engineering effort. There goes the motivation to keep spending time and $$$.

4cylndrfury wrote: Who was it that was building a turbine (jet engine) for a gocart or the like a few years back...was fabbing a combustion chamber and whatnot in the driveway. Anyone else remember that one?

That would be me. I still have all the parts for that project in a couple of plastic totes. I might have to dig that stuff back out before too long. That was a fun one.

Here's the last photo of my 56 Willys Rod ( https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/1956-willys-pickup-hot-rod-rat-rod-autoxtrack-day-/58244/page2/ ) as I was delivering it to its new owner. :(

I got bored with it and rather than finish the few things it needed I put it up for sale. Still not sure really why, but it's still local, I'm waiting to see if the guy that bought it ever finishes it.

Toyman01 wrote:

4cylndrfury wrote: Who was it that was building a turbine (jet engine) for a gocart or the like a few years back...was fabbing a combustion chamber and whatnot in the driveway. Anyone else remember that one?

That would be me. I still have all the parts for that project in a couple of plastic totes. I might have to dig that stuff back out before too long. That was a fun one.

Chop chop man

I like to think mine i s only 6 months away from done. It's been that way for 3 years. I actually did aquire more parts and have swapped it for Miata uprights so there is a chance.
I know for me that my desires now are disconnected from the desires of 7 year ago me who started the project. It's hard sometimes to get motivated to finish when its not what I would start today.

Nocones said: It's hard sometimes to get motivated to finish when its not what I would start today.

Kind of speaks to what I was saying...

Your project was one of the reasons I started this thread. It is ingrained in the history of this board. I've scoured the net a few times to see if you had just moved the thread.

On a related note: Who's selling and who's buying?

Anyone need a Zetec and rwd 4 speed for a swap project?

How about a success (in progress) story instead?

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/restoration-question-terrible-idea/33695/page1/

and then...

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/build-thread-for-the-72-gmc-finally-thanks-john/59103/page1/

All thanks to John and the greater GRM board.

tuna55 wrote: How about a success (in progress) story instead? https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/restoration-question-terrible-idea/33695/page1/ and then... https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/build-thread-for-the-72-gmc-finally-thanks-john/59103/page1/ All thanks to John and the greater GRM board.

Tuna:

I recall that thread vividly. As someone who had recently been in your shoes and already survived a few projects with rude awakenings. What I recall is my thougt that it would not end well if the body-man DID come forth as there was just not enough budget or time to cover the scope of the project.

Tuna said: What if I recruited an out of work body guy under the table, paid him $1000 and gave him a week or two to finish what I started? Not restore it, mind you, but just the bodywork. Bodywork, at this stage, can only be done in 6+ hour chunks that I no longer have. I can easily put the rest together an hour here and there at night when the kids are asleep compared to the monstrous task of pushing the truck out of the garage, removing the bed, putting it somewhere, replacing the cab corners and then putting it all back. That sort of thing would take months to accomplish

And the strong force to ignore the voice of reason "Because I am already down the road so far".

Tuna & Shaun said: tuna55 wrote: I think you're missing the point. I have this truck, and want to finish the bodywork., I have everything but paint and primer already purchased. Thanks for the advice, call me four years ago and let me know. No, I get where you're coming from. Even at this point in your restoration. See if you can find a finished one for about 4 grand, sell yours to make it as close to revenue neutral as possible. Body work costs a lot, it's a E36 M3ty, awful job that nobody likes to do. If you don't pay a good guy, you get E36 M3ty work that will have to be redone in another four years. If you pay a good guy, you get good work but you may exceed the cost of a replacement truck. Seriously, check it out. The economy isn't so great right now and a lot of guys are having to let their toys go for very little cash. It's a buyers market. Shawn

With the clarity of vision that hindsight offers, I wonder if you would sing a different Tune(a) today?

What I have watched evolve is a project that evolved into a journey. Journeys transcend dollar figures. Without moving, your truck has picked up a house, four kids, a E36 M3load of fans who wait for your next update and a lot of history. Enjoy it for what it is.

In reply to NOHOME:

I really REALLY don't like giving up. Even in hindsight, so far, I would not have bailed on this shell and gotten another, nor would I have sold it off and stopped cold.

So far, so good!

tuna55 wrote: In reply to NOHOME: I really REALLY don't like giving up. Even in hindsight, so far, I would not have bailed on this shell and gotten another, nor would I have sold it off and stopped cold. So far, so good!

I know exactly where you are coming from. I did that pilgrimage with the bugeye. Took ten years to complete and I gave it away at the end. No regrets.

Would never do it again.

The Triumph 2000 languishing in storage

There is also a CL125 project that has sat in the garage for 7 years

This is one of those times im happy to not have the space to store extra cars. I have only gave up on one that wasnt a driver when i got rid of it. Bad wiring diagram had one pin crossed on the re pin. I did the exact same swap 2 years later just to prove to myself i could.

Now i have one project and a tiny garage.

I have a family member with a late 60's Vette that he swears that he is waiting to do a complete restoration on. It has been moved from storage location to storage location over the last 30 years, and as far as I know, it is a pile of parts only. The biggest piece is the frame, currently resting on the side of the shed out back.

No current pics, but my CSX and Trans Am projects have been languishing for awhile. I last turned wrenches on the CSX about a month ago. The big holdup is that I need to get the outer rockers and inner bracing welded on. I don't won a welder, so I have to wait for the stars to align to have a friend come down when we both have time to hammer it out.

The Trans Am is also in a similar holding pattern. I need to save up and buy some front floor pans, a lower quarter patch, some door shells (or new skins) to make it less rusty. It needs the engine bay wiring sorted and a new intake gasket, and I need to replace the fuel tank (which I have). Last time I tried to start it was around October, and the starter wiring tried to catch fire... again...

I am thinking about getting a cheap used MIG so I can at least learn how to weld on my own and not depend on anyone else, but for the stuff I want to actually look nice, I will need some help.

Back in the late 80's I started this as conversion from DD to a street/strip car. Built an engine, trans, rear, redid interior, and started on bodywork. Shifted gears to another project, then another, over and over. It's had at least 5 residences I can remember and today it languishes outside under cover. Probably on my 10th cover. All the parts to finish are in the attic......... Well, I'm off to work on the Firebird. But, I'll get to the Stang as soon as I finish the bird, do the Malibu suspension and drive train swap, repaint the Porsche, and then do a frame off on the 67 Camaro. Probably be a minute before I get back to the Mustang huh?

[URL=http://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/66%20Mustang/66Mustang002.jpg.html][/URL]

This one had great goals but never got off the ground. Take our old 1985 Buick Lesabre Limited Estate wagon that barfed an Olds 307 way back when I was a kid...

Rescue this 1969 high-compression Oldsmobile 455

from this caving in shed (Yes, that's a hole in the ceiling)

And back it with the original 200-4R (properly beefed of course)

And then do burnouts everywhere, have a fun street car and take it on Hot Rod Drag Week while trying to run 12s. Man, seemed like such a good idea at the time.

But I was right out of college with no money, and setting it up to NHRA specs seemed tedious, and the 200-4R would've been too expensive to get set up to the point I wanted (And while I had a TH400, I wanted that looooow First gear and deep overdrive) and I got into mission creep and it never got off the ground. The wagon languished in the driveway for a few years and then went to the crusher when scrap was still high, the 200-4R still sits in the garage (Next to the 307 that my father had overhauled back in the day and then never got around to installing and it has never been run in the 20 or so years, so I guess that shoulda been a sign this project was doomed from the start) and the 455 sits in the back garage with all the other project material. One day I'll jam that engine in something and it'll be good times.

Also, some may notice in the trans photo the Pontiac Rallye II wheel. That's on the '69 LeMans Sport Coupe (incredibly rare due to the weird option choices the original buyer picked) that my father owns. Bought it off his friend in '84 and then my mom got in an accident with it in '85 and it got shoved off in the same shed where the wagon and 455 had been stored. We brought it home in 2010 and had the driveline functioning but it needed a complete restoration. He stripped it down a few years back and removed the junk quarter panel and a new one even sits in the basement but other things have conspired against working on it and it hasn't been touched in 2 years.

And I don't even want to think about the '52 Ford F-100, '67 Ford Galaxie 500 convertible or the '48 Ford F-4 dump truck.

Wow, we suck.

What haunts me is that every year that goes by is likely more than 1% of my total life span. 1% is a lot!!

I swear I'm going to get back to my project of putting a KL-series V6 into this old 626 coupe as soon as it warms up...

pinchvalve wrote: I have a family member with a late 60's Vette that he swears that he is waiting to do a complete restoration on. It has been moved from storage location to storage location over the last 30 years, and as far as I know, it is a pile of parts only. The biggest piece is the frame, currently resting on the side of the shed out back.

Interesting. I guess the next question is "What keeps the flame alive" or "Why don't we just get rid of these space hogs that eat up precious garage space? There has to be a value proposition or we would not tolerate their presence...right?

My skeleton is the GT. I keep it only because I have had it 37 years, its not worth anything and I think they are beautiful. When I last drove it, it made a noise like the exhaust was hitting something. Then a year went by and I forgot to drive it or look into the noise. And did not miss driving it. So it sits.

The Molvo has my full attention for the next few years, and probably even a few more as I shake it down and, who knows might even drive it around a bit. Realistically I don't see the GT ever going back on the road as by the time I got back to it, the fuel is going to go bad in the tank, the tires will age out, and so will the hoses brakes and battery. Since MGBs are not worth much, I will see that as tossing good money after bad. So its going to sit until who knows when. I might turn it into the next project after the Molvo.

In reply to NickD:

My dad used to have a 1969 Lemans Sport Coupe! I'd love to get one of those someday.

SilverFleet wrote: In reply to NickD: My dad used to have a 1969 Lemans Sport Coupe! I'd love to get one of those someday.

Ours is one of 50 or so that was optioned with the Pontiac 350 2-barrel but the TH400, a particularly weird driveline combo. They had some taste though as they got it with power steering, power brakes, front disc brakes, LSD, Rallye II wheels with raised white letter tires, bucket seat interior, floor console and floor shift. Matador Red with a red interior and a black viny top, really sharp combo. It's as close to a GTO as you can get without it being a GTO (And I kinda like the '69 LeMans' goofy weird honker). The plan was to put the stock 350 in storage and put in a mild 455 for fun's sake and enjoy being the only LeMans at car shows, as every other one has been made into a GTO. The beauty of the car is, a lot of the parts are still available thanks to sharing sheetmetal with the GTO, but other LeMans specific parts have become unobtanium (Grilles? Dear god, it's a good thing ours is intact.)

In reply to NickD:

I come from a B-O-P family.

I wasn't around when my dad had his, but I've heard about it plenty of times. His was blue, also had a Pontiac 350, but his was a 350 H.O. car. Not sure what auto trans he had in it, but I'm pretty sure it was a buckets and console car as well. He also had the Pontiac Rallye II wheels.

His car before that was a 1966 Olds Cutlass Holiday 4-door Sedan with a 330 H.O. and a Hurst-shifted Muncie... and a bench seat. It was a factory ordered sleeper! He said that he was having knee problems in his left leg, so he had to get something with an automatic.

In reply to SilverFleet:

Yeah, ours belonged to my father's best-friend who was a diehard Pontiac man. He had a '75 Trans Am (400/4-speed in Buccaneer Red with the honeycomb wheels) that he had all fixed up to like-new condition in the very early '80s. He didn't want to drive it every day or at all in the NY winter, so he found the LeMans and bought it and he came to like that too much, especially when he found out how rare it was, so he stopped driving that as much and grabbed a '71 Catalina 455 coupe (A whole 'nother story there). Well, he was still living with his parents at the time and his father got after him about the LeMans just sitting there so he made him sell it. My father knew the car pretty well because he fixed all of his cars and ended up buying the LeMans. Unfortunately my mother got in a parking lot accident that chewed up the quarter panel and door and my father refused to keep driving it with it looking like garbage. Unfortunately that ended up translating into it sitting in a barn with a questionable roof for 25 years.

This same friend's son got the Pontiac bug from his father and now owns a '69 Firebird that has a 455 HO with cam, intake, headers and other unknown mods (He bought it with the engine already built) and a TH400 and was a class record holder at a nearby dragstrip. The process of converting a race car to a street car has been a difficult one but he's finally getting it sorted out. I got it drive it this summer and it is a real animal. I don't know what cam it has but it absolutely thunders at idle. Makes you feel like an instant badass.

No pictures as I'm 340 miles from home right now at a remote office in NH - which incidentally does wonders for project progress...

Where to start...

My TDI has been sitting on the lift in my garage for over two years now waiting for me to finish replacing the turbo.

My GT6 needs the T9 transmission I bought off this forum over two years ago.

The Mini needs the steering rack replaced. Since I bought the car almost 3 years ago.

And the Volvo 1800ES... (sigh...) Which hasn't moved from its spot in my back yard in over 6 years...

Pictures Ian, we need pictures of the crime scene, especially this P1800ES that I keep hearing about? How bad could it be?

By the way, you have a lift? I am jealous.